Thane soon to get International cricket ground

An international cricket ground will soon be developed near Amne village in Bhiwandi near the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi highway. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has issued a tender for lease of 50 acres of land at Amne reserved for sports for 60 years for a cricket ground. More importantly, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is understood to have shown interest in taking the seat. If this land is taken over by MCA, Thane will have an international standard cricket ground.

The MSRDC has taken up the Mumbai-Nagpur 701 km long Samruddhi Highway. The 600 km Nagpur-Shirdi section of Samruddhi Highway is currently in service and the rest of the highway will be in service in the new year. Meanwhile, the MSRDC is going to develop other facilities like petrol pumps, hotels, toilets along this highway. Accordingly, 50 acres of land owned by the state government and currently with MSRDC, some distance from Amne village in Bhiwandi, 5 km from Vadape, where the Samriddhi Highway starts at Thane, has been reserved for sports. Senior officials of MSRDC informed it has decided to lease this space for sports, including cricket ground. He also said that according to this decision, a tender has been floated to lease this place for 60 years.

According to the tender, an international standard cricket ground will be developed here. Strict conditions have been laid in the tender. According to this, the experience of the concerned organisation, how many of its farmers have been selected at the national level, the number of members etc. will be verified. January 5 is the deadline for submission of tenders. A senior officer in MSRDC confirmed this news. But this place cannot be given without tender. Therefore, they will have to participate in the tender process, the official said.

Training Centers
There are two major international cricket grounds in Mumbai. But Thane still does not have such a ground or a well-equipped cricket training centre. Therefore, this ground will also be used as a training centre so that the children of Thane and surrounding areas can get proper training in cricket, informed a senior official of MSRDC.